Lower Paxton Township supervisors postponed their approval Tuesday for The Townes at Galway, a proposed 17-townhouse complex at the corner of Newside Road and Summerwood Drive, after one of the township's fire chiefs raised concerns about access for emergency vehicles.

Marijon Shearer, The Patriot-News

Plans for the new community show three clusters of homes encircling a private loop street which would intersect the north side of Newside Drive on the western border of the 2.3-acre site.

Thirty-five parking spaces are planned, one in each of the 17 driveways and 18 inside the loop of Celtic Drive, the proposed private street.

A memo accompanying the plan from township engineer Stephen Fleming of Herbert, Rowland & Grubic said the engineering firm supported the following waivers from township requirements, "contingent upon approval from emergency management responders":

A request to reduce the width of Celtic Drive to 24 feet from the required minimum width of 32 feet.

A request to construct Celtic Drive with a 38-foot horizontal curve radius. The township normally requires a minimum radius of 150 feet.

Colonial Park Fire Company Chief Thomas Swank said emergency responders had not approved the design.

Swank said that the turning radius could be too tight for fire apparatus and that a road width of 24 feet "is entirely too small." Residents parking along the private street would increase the hazard, he said.

The fire chief said the plans were not reviewed by Lower Paxton's public safety committee, a group which includes representatives of the township's three fire companies, emergency medical personnel and police.

Without their approval, said Supervisor Robin Lindsey, "it's definitely a public safety issue we have to look into."

Christine Hunter of H. Edward Black and Associates, representing the partnership developing the community, said the delay is "disconcerting."

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